Coverage of event was disappointing

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury (though not on its website):

Coverage of event was disappointing

Catching up with back issues of the Mercury after the Easter break, I was looking forward to reading some good coverage of the recent Choice Unlimited event at Leicester Tigers on Thursday 5 April.

Imagine my disappointment, then, to see the short article, “Ex-tigers hero roars approval for fair” (Mercury, April 7). There are several aspects of the piece that are disappointing: it was unclear what it was all about, but mostly credit was not given where it’s due.

It was reported that Choice Unlimited had the support of Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and Voluntary Action LeicesterShire.

That’s true and they all contributed to preparations and to the success on the day itself, helping showcase products, services, information and guidance available to disabled people and their carers. But Choice Unlimited didn’t spring fully-formed out of thin air.

Someone had to come up with the idea, get it off the ground, enlist support, gather momentum and bring it all to a successful conclusion. And that “someone” was the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP).

REDP is a collective of Voluntary and Community Sector organisations working together to promote equality and celebrate diversity.

At its core are four Leicester organisations with a track record of collaborating across different equalities for as long as ten years now. Our influence and engagement has extended in the past few years to embrace the whole East Midlands . The four city-based founder members of REDP are Leicester Council of Faiths; Leicester and Leicestershire Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre; The Race Equality Centre and Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (which took the lead role in Choice Unlimited).

The coverage failed to mention the ground-breaking nature of Choice Unlimited (it was the first of its kind anywhere in the East Midlands) nor was there any indication of the tremendous success of the event. More than 160 exhibitors participated and an estimated 2,500-3,000 service users came through the door – every one of them a potential customer in this new era of personal budgets for care services and products.

REDP is already in advanced discussions to present Choice Unlimited in other parts of the East Midlands. We’d still like it to be known that Leicester was the birthplace of this trail-blazing first presentation.

You might wonder why this matters, two weeks after the event and ten days after the Mercury’s coverage. Choice Unlimited signalled the birth of a new way of doing things for disabled people in the city, county and Rutland – kicking off a new era of choice and control. And at REDP our phone lines and inboxes are still red hot with those keen for information and asking when we’ll be doing it again. And they show no sign of cooling down!

George M Ballentyne

Stoneygate

Setting Religion or Belief Equality Objectives for Leicestershire Police

At The Centre, Alfred Place, this evening for a public meeting organised by The Race Equality Centre (TREC): "Setting Religion or Belief Equality Objectives for Leicestershire Constabulary". The meeting is led by Darren Goddard, one of Leicestershire Constabulary's Diversity Officers (on the right in the photo above).

Is Leicestershire Constabulary able to deliver equality for people of different religions or beliefs? Are all the people of Leicestershire:

• Equally safe from violence?
• Equally safe from burglary?
• Equally stopped by the police?
• Equally recruited by the police?
• Equally treated by the police?

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on Leicestershire Constabulary to plan to be able to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination between people from different religions or beliefs,
• advance equality of opportunity for all religions or beliefs,
• and foster good relations between people from different religions or beliefs

The plans that the Police publish should be based on consultation with those communities that could be unfairly treated. This public meeting has been organised to provide an opportunity to meet police representatives and propose equality priorities that the police should implement to meet their Equality Duty. The meeting is open to representatives and practitioners from all communities or organisations of religion or belief and to everyone with an interest in addressing inequality on the grounds of religion or belief.

At the start of the meeting, we're shown a YouTube clip, Leicestershire Police: Taking a Look Back at 2011 (which I saw previously at the Chief and Chair meeting on Thursday 12 January 2012). Darren builds on themes in this presentation, concentrating on relations between Leicestershire Constabulary and faith communities, places of worship, community centres - as well as considering how individuals who identify with particular communities of religion or belief are treated if they're detained in police custody.

We discuss the possible impacts of new arrangements for an elected Police and Crime Commissioner, coming later this year. There's genuine concern and anxiety (verging on alarm) at this development among many in the room. Some of those here are learning of this for the first time and express anxiety about how much candidates for the post might know about their communities. It sounds like a good idea for faith communities to organise a hustings!

There's also concern that Leicestershire Constabulary's Equality Objectives for Religion or Belief should be determined by such a small group as is gathered here this evening. There are a dozen attendees, among us Bahá'ís, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and a couple with no particular religious identity (broadly speaking). Well, that illustrates the importance of engagement and participation! At least one other meeting of a similar nature is to take place in Loughborough and recommendations can be made electronically for a while yet. But the invitation to participate has been extended, even if it's been at fairly short notice. You can lead a horse to water ...

 We're each given a booklet showing Leicestershire Constabulary's employment statistics 2008-2011, which breaks down figures in terms of Protected Characteristics, including Religion or Belief. Here's that part of the booklet:

Within the Constabulary's HR system there are 37 different religions and faiths that staff have self identified. For the purpose of this publication we have collapsed the different denominations in the 20 main headings.

There is an active association of Muslim Police, Christian Police Association and Sikh Police Association within the organisation which receives organisational funding and support. The faith based support networks are involved in a number of key organisational meetings and provide support to all staff on a range of faith based issues. In addition the networks actively make links with different faith groups in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

There is also a multi-faith and contemplation room which is supported by the Leicester Council of Faiths within the Headquarters complex. The room which is open to all officers, staff and visitors has washing facilities and separate storage facilities for each faith to store religious texts and other items.

The figures show that for those police officers who have chosen to record their religion or belief 92% have identified as following a Christian based faith, followed by 1.7% identifying as Atheist or Sikh and 1.6% as Hindu or Muslim.

For those police staff who have recorded their religion or belief 85% identified as following a Christian based faith, whilst 5.6% are Hindu, 2.3% Sikh and 2.1% Muslim.

76% of those Special Constables who chose to record the religion or belief identified as following a Christian based faith, 14% Hindu, 3.5% Muslim and 2.1% Sikh.

Police officers

• Agnostic 16
• Atheist 28
• Buddhist 2
• Christian 1,479
• Hindu 25
• Jehovah's Witness 0
• Judaism 1
• Muslim 25
• Sikh 28
• Other 1
• Non-recorded 642

Police staff

• Agnostic 16
• Atheist 14
• Buddhist 0
• Christian 760
• Hindu 50
• Jehovah's Witness 3
• Judaism 1
• Muslim 19
• Sikh 20
• Other 4
• Non-recorded 613

Special Constables

• Agnostic 2
• Atheist 2
• Buddhist 0
• Christian 108
• Hindu 20
• Jehovah's Witness 0
• Judaism 0
• Muslim 5
• Sikh 3
• Other 1
• Non-recorded 103

Equality Act training for South Derbyshire CVS

At Goseley Community Centre, Hartshorne, Derbyshire, this morning, delivering training for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP).

I'm here with Chino Cabon, from The Race Equality Centre (TREC), one of REDP's four Core Partners. We're presenting on the Equality Act 2010 at a staff development day for South Derbyshire CVS. There are 27 attendees, a mix of paid staff and volunteers.

Chino (in the orange shirt, photo above) takes the first session, giving an hour-and-a-half long overview of the Equality Act: its history (including the decades-long back story of equality legislation in this country); innovations and extensions (what's new and what it retains from previous legislation); what's lawful and what's unlawful under its provisions; who it protects and who's responsible for its enforcement.

I do something half that length focusing on disabled people and the Equality Act. Not my specialist area, that's true, but it's part of the deal at REDP that we're able to double up for each other and cover all the Protected Characteristics.

Chino's presentations are always encyclopaedic and rooted firmly in the texts. Mine tend to be a bit looser. Variety is the spice of life!

As soon as my session is finished, we dash off back to Leicester, so I can get to the meeting of REDP's Core Reference Group at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living. We're leaving here just before the start of lunch; we'll probably get there just as it ends!

Human Rights seminar in Mansfield

At Mansfield Community & Voluntary Service this morning, delivering the third in a series of seminars for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) on the Human Rights Act 1998.

Strictly speaking, the part on the Human Rights Act is delivered by Chino Cabon from The Race Equality Centre (TREC), while I present a Beginners Guide to REDP.

The purpose of these seminars is to help Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations appreciate the relevance of the Human Rights Act 1998 to their mission, to understand its relationship to equality and diversity issues, as well enabling them to take part in the current debate about the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and replacing it with a new UK Bill of Rights. These topics will feature prominently in REDP's next regional event, in Derby, 22 March.

Gathered in Community House this morning are eight people, representing  four  VCS organisations and one public authority service provider (spot the out one out):

• Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service
• Disability Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living
• Enable Housing, Care & Support Group
• Peak District Volunteering Advancement
• Rethink

This was a good meeting, a positive experience for (we hope) all who took part. It certainly was for Chino and me, although the fact that we got involved in a crash at the roundabout outside Glenfield Hospital on the outskirts of Leicester rather took the shine off things at the end. Ouch!

Human Rights seminar in Oakham

At Voluntary Action Rutland, Oakham, this morning, delivering the second in a series of seminars on the Human Rights Act 1998.

Strictly speaking, the part on the Human Rights Act is delivered by Chino Cabon from The Race Equality Centre (TREC), while I present a Beginners Guide to REDP.

The purpose of these seminars is to help Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations appreciate the relevance of the Human Rights Act 1998 to their mission, to understand its relationship to equality and diversity issues, as well enabling them to take part in the current debate about the UK withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rgihts and replacing it with a new UK Bill of Rights. These topics will feature prominently in REDP's next regional event, in Derby, 22 March.

Gathered in The Gower Centre (photo above) this morning are representatives of ten VCS organisations:

• Ann Craft Trust
• British Deaf Association
• CLASP: The Carers Centre
• Diocese of Peterborough
• Fawcett Society
• Leicester Secular Society
• Norton House
• Open Door Leicester
• South Lincolnshire VCS
• St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society

Core Partners meeting

This morning we have the monthly meeting of REDP's Core Partners:

• Leicester Council of Faiths
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre
• The Race Equality Centre

We meet at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, which is the accountable body for this project. Normally we'd have this meeting on the first Tuesday of the month, but that was given over this month to our regional event on Personalisation.

Today we're joined by members of our Working Group, bringing them up to speed with our exit strategy as REDP approaches the end of its initial funding period and on our plans and prospects for sustainability in the medium and long term. This is following up on the meeting of Core Partners last Wednesday morning (see blog entry for 7 December).

This isn't our only topic today, of course. We discuss the remaining three regional conferences that we plan to hold in the first half of 2012, the topics for which are:

• Human Rights (led by The Race Equality Centre)
• Hate Crime (led by Leicester LGBT Centre)
• Localism (led by Leicester Council of Faiths)

These will be spaced about eight weeks apart and each one will be preceded by a short series of seminars in six different parts of the East Midlands.

We also discuss how to set a consistent tone for the public projection of REDP. As well as adhering to a list of inappropriate words and phrases that we hope would never pass the lips of anyone doing anything, anywhere, on behalf of REDP, we'd like to do something that would help define our values. My part in this will be to draft a brief statement regarding the positive dimensions of identifying with one or more of the Protected Characteristics enumerated in the Equality Act 2010. More often than not, identification with a Protected Characteristic is presented as having a negative impact on individual, family and community life - as if being rid of this, that or the other Protected Characteristic would only beneficial. As if (say) a black person's life would be made better if they had been born white; as if a gay person (for instance) would invariably be happier if they were straight; as if giving up one's culture, heritage and identity as a Sikh (for example) would lead to more success in this world. This is ridiculous and patently so. No doubt that belonging to any identifiable group can lead to discrimination, harassment, persecution or victimisation - and we would never deny that that's the unfortunate and unacceptable reality of life for many. However, the solution is not to aspire to some bland, featureless, flavourless "norm" of being British. What on earth would that be like - and who on earth would say that is them, or wish to be like that? This would help differentiate our approach to diversity (after all, it's in our name) as well as affirming our commitment to equality.

Exit strategy and sustainability

This morning REDP's Core Partners are meeting at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, to consider our Action Plan for an exit strategy and sustainability when our initial period of funding ends in June 2012. The Core Partners of REDP are:

• Leicester Council of Faiths
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre
• The Race Equality Centre

We consider our current position, plans and future prospects under the following broad categories:

• Policy and Procedure
• Audit and Performance
• Workforce and Training
• Accountability and Scrutiny
• Health and Safety
• Training and Equality-Proofing
• Website
• Research
• Market Profiling
• Project Delivery
• Seminars and Events

You'll have to make do with that for now. I'm not giving the game away at this stage! You'll just have to keep up with developments.

Core Partners meeting

This morning we have the monthly meeting of REDP's Core Partners:

• Leicester Council of Faiths
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre
• The Race Equality Centre

We meet at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, which is the accountable body for this project.

Equality briefing no. 5

At Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) this morning, presenting one of our region-spanning briefing events. This is the fifth in a series of six meetings held over the past few weeks. The others have been held in Derby (Wed 20 July), Wellingborough (27 July), Nottingham (28 July), Oakham (Wed 03 Aug) and one more to be held in Grantham. All in all, there are eight organisations represented here today:

• Disability Nottinghamshire
• Genesis / LAMP Direct
• Good Thinking
• Human Rights and Equalities Charnwood
• Leicester Council of Faiths
• Leicester Deaf Action Group
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Loughborough Women's Aid
• The Race Equality Centre

Up till now the briefings have been conducted by Chino Cabon, Policy Officer at The Race Equality Centre (TREC) and Kelly Jussab, Project Officer at REDP. Kelly has a family obligation today and has asked George Ballentyne, Equality and Diversity Officer at Leicester Council of Faiths, to deputise for her.

Each of these meetings has been hosted by a member of REDP's Core Reference Group from that locality. Today's host is Leicester Deaf Action Group (with assistance from two members of Signing Network). Oas from LDAG opens the meeting, giving us a historical overview and an outline of the future prospects of their user-led organisation.

George gives the Beginners' Guide to REDP, Chino speaks about the Equality Act 2010 (concentrating on the terminology used in the Act and its relationship with previous anti-discrimination legislation) then George is back up front to present on the Localism Bill and Big Society.

The whole thing takes about three hours (including lunch) and I'm glad to say we get some positive evaluations from the attendees.

Core Partners meeting

This morning we have the monthly meeting of REDP's Core Partners:

• Leicester Council of Faiths
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre
• The Race Equality Centre

We meet at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, which is the accountable body for this project.


Apologies received from George Ballentyne, representing Leicester Council of Faiths, who's taking part today in the pre-launch event for Leicester Speaks 2011 in Gallowtree Gate.

Core Partners meeting

This morning, we have the monthly meeting of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership. This is usually held on the first Tuesday of the month, but our work schedule (along with most the rest of the country, it would appear) has been messed around by additional bank holidays, half term childcare, local elections - you name it!

Three out of the four Core Partners are represented here today: Leicester Council of Faiths, The Race Equality Centre (TREC) and Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) - where the meeting is being held today, as normal. Laura Horton, REDP Project Manager, is in the meeting too of course.

High on our agenda this morning is planning an event on the Specific Duties attendant on the Equality Act 2010. This will be held in Nottingham at the end of June. It's purpose will be to inform Voluntary and Community Sector groups and organisations about these duties, which should be performed by authorities and service providers.

We're in the process of finalising the programme, scheduling workshops, confirming speakers and facilitators. There's a lot of creative energy whizzing around - all we can say right now is, "Watch this space!"

REDP (Not very far) Away Day

Last Thursday was an "away day" for the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP). Not very far away though. It's a sign of these austerity times that we've only gone as far as upstairs in the third floor training room at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL). this is the second time this week that I've been involved in an "away day" that's gone no further than upstairs (the other one was with the Management Committee at Network for Change on Tuesday).

We're 18 months into our project at REDP, halfway through our period of guaranteed funding. Time to take stock of what we've achieved so far, what's still to be done - and what future we see for the partnership and our places in it beyond the end of funding in June 2012.

The away day is facilitated by Bob Clarke, who drafted the original business plan that helped us win the bid, and who conducted an evaluation of the project at the end of its first year. I like Bob. Bob is cool.

We start off with just the four Core Partners of REDP:

• Leicester Council of Faiths - represented by me;
• Leicester Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Centre - represented by their Director, Ian Robson;
• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living - represented by their CEO, Dee Martin;
• The Race Equality Centre (TREC) - represented by their CEO, Iris Lightfoote.

We consider the original aim of the project and discuss to what extent this has been achieved:

To establish an effective regional equality and diversity partnership that can provide a voice for voluntary sector organisations on equality issues and ensure that national and regional information relating to equality issues is cascaded through infrastructure organisations to frontline bodies. Our overall aim is to provide a mechanism by which equality is embedded in regional thinking.

We carry out a similar exercise for the objectives originally agreed for the project:

• To ensure the partnership becomes the hub of influence in the region for infrastructure organisations.
• To develop links into the network of strategic government departments and agencies working on equality and diversity issues.
• To help East Midlands organisations which are working on the recognised equality strands tap into the wider networks promoting and challenging equality and diversity policies and practices across the region.

After the Core Partners have gone through these tasks for almost two hours, we're joined by Laura Horton (REDP Project Manager) to discuss some of the practical aspects of our work.

At lunchtime, we're joined by members of the the wider REDP team, bringing in more people from the four Core Partners. We've grown from four (plus Bob) when we started in the morning to ten (plus Bob) now. I'm pleased that Tony Nelson, Vice Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths (and a member of my management group from day one) is able to be here too.

We spend the next few hours largely going over the same issues and questions that we addressed this morning, but this time with a bigger number of participants and differing input.

We've read three papers in particular form central government in preparation for today. Here are the links, so you can follow them up yourself if you feel so inclined, faithful reader:

Decentralisation and the Localism Bill: an essential guide (published 13 Dec 2010 by HM Governement)
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/1793908.pdf

The Equality Strategy: Building a Fairer Britain (published Dec 2010 by HM Government)
http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/GEO%20Equality%20Strategy%20tagged%20version.pdf

Building a Big Society (published Mar 2010 by the Conservative Party)
http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/03/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/Building-a-Big-Society.ashx

- George M Ballentyne (REDP Core Partner)